Gas installation...are these fair prices.

jky

Ive decided to have gas central heating installed in my 2 bedroom maisonette, ive had a couple of quotes and to me they seem a bit high when i break down the costs of materials.

Im taking all my storage heaters off the walls myself, taking the flooring up so most of the pipework can go under the floor boards and clearing the house out so its easier for them.

Im having a worcester bosch 28i boiler which ive looked on the net and i could get for about £750, 5 basic radiators and a cheap towel rail. Plastic pipework with visible radiator tails in copper. Im not sure about the exact price of the pipes and radiators but i think im thinking about £500....if that.

They all say its a 5 days job and i thought that plumbers in my area, Kingston, charged about £200 a day. So ive done my sums and to me that comes to about £2500, thats with a bit added on for problems there might be.

The lowest quote ive had is £3700 and they go up. That means the lowest quote is charging me £500 a day labour. Am i missing something, i am female or are these prices over the top. Im a decorator but i might become a plumber if they earn that much.

thegasmon

it is infact illegal to perform work on a gas installation without being competent. This is the law, the arguement is how do you prove your competent? normally this is done via being a member of a register (gas safe) and having qualifications and experience.

GAS WORK IS NOT FOR A DIYER.

thegasmon

jky wrote: »

Ive decided to have gas central heating installed in my 2 bedroom maisonette, ive had a couple of quotes and to me they seem a bit high when i break down the costs of materials.

Im taking all my storage heaters off the walls myself, taking the flooring up so most of the pipework can go under the floor boards and clearing the house out so its easier for them.

Im having a worcester bosch 28i boiler which ive looked on the net and i could get for about £750, 5 basic radiators and a cheap towel rail. Plastic pipework with visible radiator tails in copper. Im not sure about the exact price of the pipes and radiators but i think im thinking about £500....if that.

They all say its a 5 days job and i thought that plumbers in my area, Kingston, charged about £200 a day. So ive done my sums and to me that comes to about £2500, thats with a bit added on for problems there might be.

The lowest quote ive had is £3700 and they go up. That means the lowest quote is charging me £500 a day labour. Am i missing something, i am female or are these prices over the top. Im a decorator but i might become a plumber if they earn that much.

These prices seem ok to me. £500 wont cover the costs of the pipe, fittings and radiators. What about the cost of the flue system, the controls, the radiator valves, the cleaning chemicals, the copper for the gas supply, the flux, solder,gas, screws,plugs etc.......

Plastic pipe is as expensive as copper, plastic fittings are about 10 times more expensive. you will need to have a time clock, a room stat and a sparks to wire it or a plug in wireless programable stat which are £170

the boiler your having is the greenstar junior 28i? id go for the 30si as it has hot water temp control and a 5 year warranty until the end of june.

please dont try and fit it yourself, as suggested. Be safe.

chanz4

Actually its legal to fit your own boiler / pipes, as long as its then signed of by a registered gas safe engineer. Although this it taking the assumption that its not connected to the gas main by the op.

thegasmon

chanz4 wrote: »

Actually its legal to fit your own boiler / pipes, as long as its then signed of by a registered gas safe engineer. Although this it taking the assumption that its not connected to the gas main by the op.

your incorrect, gas safe state that any engineer signing off work done by an unregisterd engineer is deemed illegal. If your a gas safe engineer then you need to do some re training it seems.

i should know, if reported enough illegal work to them in my time.

jky

thegasmon wrote: »

it is infact illegal to perform work on a gas installation without being competent. This is the law, the arguement is how do you prove your competent? normally this is done via being a member of a register (gas safe) and having qualifications and experience.

GAS WORK IS NOT FOR A DIYER.

If i did it myself i would only do the radiators and pipe work, i would get somebody in to do the boiler.

Moneys tight but i really need heating as my place is getting damp.

i would of liked my quotes itemised so i could of seen exactly what im paying for but none of them did. I would rather get the boiler and rads myself and just get a plumber to fit them.

To me it seems a lot of money for labour now ive seen what the materials cost. When i look around the net to see what it should cost to have my gas installed it is less than all my quotes and one quote was from the bloke who lives upstairs.

jky

thegasmon wrote: »

Plastic pipe is as expensive as copper, plastic fittings are about 10 times more expensive.

well then they should use copper, i would prefer they did, they use plastic because its easier for them but doesnt last so long.

thegasmon

jky wrote: »

If i did it myself i would only do the radiators and pipe work, i would get somebody in to do the boiler.

Moneys tight but i really need heating as my place is getting damp.

i would of liked my quotes itemised so i could of seen exactly what im paying for but none of them did. I would rather get the boiler and rads myself and just get a plumber to fit them.

To me it seems a lot of money for labour now ive seen what the materials cost. When i look around the net to see what it should cost to have my gas installed it is less than all my quotes and one quote was from the bloke who lives upstairs.

its fine for you to do most of the work, you cant do any of the gas pipework, or fit the boiler and flue as this will break the law.

make sure you size the rads, pipework correctly and get them to the boiler position and pay a gas safe engineer to come fit the boiler and gas pipework and test it for you. Use an online rad size calculator.

you will want to pressure test the plastic to 10-18 bar as per the plastic manufacturers instructions. Just check there websites for details. Make sure you clip the plastic every 12" to stop noise and problems. Make sure you only drill or notch your joists in the correct zones to avoid weakening the floor. lagg all the pipework you can.

have you had the cold main flow and pressure tested? make sure its ok for the boiler.

checkout the building regs and follow manufacturers instructions and you should be fine.

thegasmon

jky wrote: »

well then they should use copper, i would prefer they did, they use plastic because its easier for them but doesnt last so long.

i would do it in copper. Plasitc is easier to install for a diy job tho.

thegasmon

one thing i forgot to mention, check your storage heaters dont contain asbestos. Many do.

thegasmon

heres a idea of material costs at a guess without knowing anything about the job.

wb 28i boiler = £750
flue kit = £60
controls = £130
rad valves = £15 x 4 = £60
rad valves= £8
radiators = 4 x £60
towl rad = £90
chemicals = £20
auto bypass valve = £15
magnetic filter = £90
copper pipe = 60mx15mm = £100
copper pipe = 30mx22mm = £120
copper pipe = 9mx28mm = £ £40
copper fittings = £ 65
sundries = £75

add these together and times by 1.2 to include vat.

as for the labour costs if you paid for it, well it depends on the area, business etc...

the average small Gas safe business (1-2 man) has a running cost of £30-£50 a day maybe even higher. This comes from many things but includes public liability insurance, gas related costs, vehicle costs, tool costs, office costs....... the list is endless tbh.